


Not the Time, But the Mileage

by The_Shadow



Category: Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms, Tomb Raider (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Indiana Jones - Freeform, Marion Ravenwood - Freeform, Mentions of Character Death, Raiders of the Lost Ark - Freeform, crossing lines - Freeform, post-Yamatai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 04:04:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3194675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shadow/pseuds/The_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the ship home, a sore and tired Lara gets the hero's reward. (Not a crossover, but an extended Indiana Jones reference).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not the Time, But the Mileage

**Author's Note:**

> This came to mind while I was playing the game. I hope you all enjoy it.

Lara groaned as she limped behind the crewman leading her to her room. She was regretting _immensely_ refusing the offers to help her or even carry her there. _But_ , she grumbled to herself, _if I can survive Yamatai, I should be able to get to bed myself._

For days on that god forsaken island, she'd been unstoppable in her campaign to save her friends and get home, but now, with the adrenaline high wearing off, she felt everything she'd done. Her arms were limp at her sides from the climbing and scrambling up cliffs. Her legs were soar from jumping from collapsing ledges. And her side was still in pain from where she cut, then cauterized it.

“We'll want you to see the ship's doctor once you've gotten some sleep,” the man was saying, temporarily distracting her from her pain. “For now, you can stay here.”

The room she'd been given was small, like the one she'd stay in on the Endurance, but she didn't care. As long as it had a bed, she had everything she needed. She planned to sleep until they changed her name to Rip Van Croft.*

As if aware that she was about get some well-deserved rest, her body began to shut down. She stumbled to her bed, her sea legs rusty but still there, and at one point briefly considered just sleeping on the floor for awhile. But she made it in the end and crawled into bed.

It was a testament to her exhaustion that her pain didn't keep her from her rest. No sooner had she collapsed onto her pillow (making her wince again) and pulled her blanket over her than she was dozing off.

 

Lara was awoken-far too soon in her opinion-by the feeling of a hand on her waist.

“Damn it, that hurts!” she whined, keeping her eyes firmly shut. The hand was quickly removed.

“Sorry,” said the voice of Sam.

Lara finally opened her eyes to look the at the face of her best friend, the woman she'd risk her life-not to mentions the lives of everyone else-and fought supernatural monsters to save.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she was still in the dress Mathias had forced her to wear for the ritual with Himiko. Though still dirty and banged up from her time on the island, she looked more or less ok.

Sam was staring down at her, her expression a mix of concern and awe and...something Lara couldn't quite place. She was suddenly aware that her best friend was gently stroking her hair. How long had she been there?

“They told me what you did,” she said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between them. “What they knew, anyway. It just seems so...well, is any of it true? All those men and...things you fought?”

Lara thought about lying, downplaying her adventure, but, in her pain and tiredness, she was in a petulant mood and...well, damn it, she _had_ done a lot. Was it so bad to want a fuss made of her?

“All of it and more,” she assured her.

Sam squealed in joy.

“I knew it! All those stories your dad and Roth...” she trailed off, seeing the anguish in Lara knew was in her eyes. “Well...I always knew you had it in you.”

She leaned down to give Lara a hug, inadvertently hitting the burned cut on her side and making her yelp loudly.

“That hurt's too!” she pouted. She was wrong. Being made a fuss over sucked and she wanted Sam and everyone else to leave her alone.

“Well,” Sam said trying to hide an amused, mischievous smile and doing it badly, “where doesn't it hurt?”*

Lara thought about it and looked around her body. Finally, she held up her elbow and pointed at it.

“Here,” she said, annoyance clear in her voice.*

But that melted away when Sam, careful not to touch any other part of her, leaned down to kiss her softly on her elbow.

Lara, far beyond here comfort zone, wasn't a bit sure what to do. She'd known Sam for years, since they were school girls, and had even followed each other to college. But she'd never looked at her _that_ way before.

But apparently Sam had. Lara had watched the recordings on Sam's camera while on the island, and she'd seen the way Sam's gaze, through the recording, had lingered on her body.

She'd thought back to those trips around the world they'd taken, where Sam would drag her out to go dancing at clubs. Sam, still a bit of a wild child, could usually be counted on the find a guy or two snog. But, Lara remembered, she'd seen Sam with the odd girl here and there. She suddenly thought she'd like to try that for herself.

_The hero always gets the girl, after all_ , she thought. 

“Here,” she said tentatively, pointing to her forehead. Sam dutifully kissed it too.*

More confident, she pointed to her cheek.

“This isn't too bad.”* Another kiss.

Smirking, she pointed to her lips. _Now or never, Lara._

“Here...”

Smiling softly, Sam pressed her soft lips to her friends in a gentle, delicate kiss. It wasn't a kiss for the ages, Lara thought, but it was nice and she was left wanting more when Sam pulled away far too soon.

“Get some sleep,” Sam said. She seemed a bit embarrassed by it all “I'll come back to check on you later.”

Lara stared at the retreating form of her best friend, admiring the view.

 _When I'm better_ , she thought, closing her eyes again, _I'm going to have get a proper snog from that girl._

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from Indy's line, "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."
> 
> The first asterisk notes a reference to Blackadder (Goes Forth, I believe)
> 
> The rest of the asterisks note lines either lifted directly or lightly paraphrased from Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Lara takes Indy's lines, Sam takes Marion's)


End file.
